Ottumwa -- A record-setting season resulted in Indian Hills' first-year coach Stephanie Gale being named the Region 11 Coach of the Year. It's a fitting reward for a coach who led the Warriors to a 10-7-1 record, the most wins in school history and a berth in the semifinals of the postseason conference tournament. Six of the seven losses came to teams ranked in the top ten in the nation.

Indian Hills is Gale's first head-coaching job and she said, "I am truly grateful to begin my coaching career at Indian Hills Community College. The college took a chance on me as a young head coach and I plan to keep working to improve both on and off the field. The future is bright for the women's soccer program here and I want to thank everyone for their help and support."

The Warriors twice had the conference athlete of the week this season and on one occasion the entire team was named the player of the week, something that had never been done before. IHCC set new records with 42 goals and an average of 18.5 shots per game and they claimed a 15-0 win over Lincoln (Ill.) College, the largest victory margin ever in IHCC women's soccer.

Returning only one player from the year before, Gale had to first assemble an almost entirely new roster, and then go about building the women's soccer program. "The most exciting part of this season was the fact that we started as an underdog and no one expected much from us," Gale said. "It's been great to prove people wrong. We exceeded everyone's expectations. We set goals this year that we actually didn't reach and I know that this group of young ladies can't wait for the 2016 season and to get back out there. I am so grateful for the support we have had, from people like the athletic director, faculty, staff, the business department and everyone who has helped me grow as a coach and learn. The families that came to every single game and became a part of the IHCC Family will never be forgotten. Most importantly, some big shoes will have to be filled once these athletes move on and their families go with them. To the families who watched every one of our games online you should know that your support never went unnoticed and I want to thank you all SO much."

Gale said the players she coached in her inaugural season at IHCC were a large part of her winning coach of the year honors. "None of this could have been possible without the players -- they trusted in me to change this program around, but really they are the ones who have done all the hard work. They could have laughed at me when I recruited them and, instead, gone to much more successful programs. The most rewarding thing for me is that we have grown since day one and are now a family which no one can break and I truly believe you can see that on the field and off. A player said the other day, 'I'm glad I'm part of the change in the history of this program' and to me that shows the pride of being a Warrior.

The future of this program is what we make it -- we are changing a culture and it takes time. Some of my mentors have told me that it's a marathon and not a sprint in turning a program around. While we compete in an extremely difficult conference with Iowa Western and Iowa Central, we are not far behind those programs and the best thing is every coach in this conference supports each other."

The IHCC coach concluded by saying, "I did not expect this award, but am sincerely grateful to receive it."